Topic of the Week over on Fangs, Fur & Fey - Readers' Questions

x/posted from Fangs, Fur & Fey

Q. For those of you, especially debut authors, who sold series where the first book was complete but future books were not: How much freedom did you have with the writing of the second book?

Q. On pitching series, do you pitch the series in the initial query? Or is that something you extrapolate once you've been invited to send some material along?

I have a three book deal with Gollancz and my debut book is book one in a reasonably open series – Spellcrackers.com. That’s what I pitched to my agent, and once I’d finished book one – my agent took me on as a client before I’d completed the manuscript ;) - that’s what he pitched to publishers. Along with the completed manuscript, I sent one page detailing my ideas for books two and three (both very short three line paragraphs), a few one liners about possible further books, and also some other ideas I had, to expand the series/stories in my world.

In answer to the question about book two, so far, I’m being left to write it as per that short paragraph. As to whether this is normal or not, I don’t know, as I am a debut author. I think this is one of those answers that could vary between different editors and authors and publishing houses.


Q. How do you deal with writer's block?

This is an odd one, as I’ve found hitting a block where I can’t seem to write the next scene, or bit of dialogue usually has a particular cause (as opposed to the just not feeling like working one, cos I’m tired, or distracted by too many other things, like life, or the other job - and I can be world class at distracting myself *g*)

Frex – I was writing a scene where my MC is alone with another character, and I couldn’t think of a thing for them both to say to each other. So I took a walk, and pondered *read racked brain for solution* And I realised *I* the writer, knew exactly why both characters were alone together, regarding their motivations, and the plot development, but my UF has a strong murder mystery plot running through it ;) so of course, the character other than my MC couldn’t *talk* about their real reasons, because that would give the game away, so they had to have some plausible excuse. So in the end, I managed to find their excuse, and ... the words started to flow again ;) (sorry if that was a bit convoluted, but I don’t want to give out any hints *g*)


Q. My parents are visiting England, and asked if I wanted anything can anyone recommend some UF that hasn't been released in the US? I spent about two hours crossmatching amazon.com and amazon.co.uk but had very little success.

As a Brit, I find most of my UF reading has been from the US, as currently UF in the UK is not as big. One UF Brit author that springs to mind is Mike Carey and his Felix Castor series - Mike is probably better known for his graphic novels – but his UF are wonderful books and are set in London (as are my own ;)) His MC, Fix is an exorcist, and has to deal with zombies, ghosts, demons, and a really different style of weres.

An Invite to Fangs, Fur & Fey!

Yesterday, Melissa Marr, one of the founders of the LJ community Fangs, Fur & Fey was kind enough to invite me to join them! Now I've been lurking there, like forever, and hoping that one day...

So here's my entry x posted.

Hi Everyone

Thanks so much to Melissa for inviting me, and I’m delighted and honoured to accept. I’ve been a watcher ever since the FFF comm. started and now I get to join ~big grin~ I’ve learnt a huge amount from the fabulous authors here and everyone’s comments, lots of great info on writing, publishing and of course, so many awesome books to go on my reading wish list ;).

And now a little about me – I’m a UK author, living on the South Coast with my dh (who is Scottish and wonderful in so many ways, not least for his support!) and our two rescue dogs, a hyperactive Jack Russell/Lab cross, and a couch-potato German shepherd/lab cross! I’ve been writing for just over four years and my love is Urban Fantasy. Just before Christmas my fantastic agent, John Jarrold, sold my first three books to Gollancz. Wow! Was that the best Christmas present ever! But don’t you just hate writing about yourself? I always find is sooooo much easier to write about my world and my characters, so…

“Welcome to present day London, England, and the world of Genevieve Taylor, a sidhe fae.

A place where you can dance the night away with a celebrity vampire, ride the underground with a goblin worker, buy a love charm from the witches’ market, report a crime to a mountain troll and log on to Spellcrackers.com and hire a sidhe or a satyr to sort out that annoying pixie infestation.

But be warned!

Be polite when you meet a brownie or a cluricaun, lest your milk turn sour and your beer stop flowing. Don’t go swimming in the Thames with the kelpie. Visiting Sucker Town after sunset is just asking for trouble to bite you. And never, ever, break a bargain made with a fae, for the magic will always extract its retribution.

In the first novel (title to be confirmed), when one of the hot calendar pin-up vamps, Mr October, is accused of murdering his girlfriend, a longstanding obligation means Genny can't refuse to help prove his innocence. Initially, she agrees with the police that he is guilty. But as events unfold, Genny begins to have doubts.”

Where am I now? ... Well having written and delivered book one to my editor, I’m now waiting anxiously for her notes. I’ve been reading the recent comments on those with great interest, believe me! I already know my book is way too long at 137K words, and I’ve got to cut it down to the 100K!!! (a whole sub-plot has to go) Also, I’ve got to tone down the sex (which tells you I’m definitely writing for the adult market ~grin~) Then I’ve got nine month deadlines for book two and three! Scary – especially ‘cos I’m such a slow writer ~ sigh. But the best bit of all, is I get to go play with my characters some more, and even though I write to a plan, they still constantly surprise me.

Thanks again for inviting me, and any questions?? Just ask away ;)